Hi, I have a couple of questions out there for the pros in basements.
I have a 1958 house and have cinder block on slab for a basement. I live on the slope of a hill and have seepage coming in when it rains hard or during the spring thaw. I was told to dig around the house on the up hill side and put in a drainage system venting to the road down hill. Another way is to cut a trench on the inside the three walls that seep facing the up hill side and put in a draingage system to my existing sump pump and then seal it up. 18″Wx18″H put a bed of rock then drain pipe 4″ then layer of rock and seal it up with new cement. Any ideas? Thanks for your time.
Replies
First things first: do you have 6'-10' downspout extensions?
Is the soil sloped away from all sides of the house?
If that doesn't do it:
What sort of soil/geology do you have?
The exterior trench system is the better choice; its depth will depend on the geology of the site and the depth at which the water moves.
Fighting Ignorance since 1967
It's taking way longer than we thought
Yes I have 6' drain spouts on all corners cleaned every week from spring to fall. I have lome on top of sandy soil and sloped away from the house with water barrier laied down on the three sides facing the up hill.
What is a water barrier?
You're on the right track per rjw s' advice. It is always better to keep it out of or off the foundation wall than trying to control it after it gets in.
Dave
drain the perimeter uphill outside first. You gotta get it where it's coming from, not after it is inside.
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had the same sort of problem....
i used solid wall black 4" plastic corrugated pipe to pick up all the downspouts in a trench to daylight. here's the twist that worked really well. in the trench (hopefully below groundwater), i lined it with landscaping cloth and inside that gravel and inside the gravel the pipe (the cloth and stone is over around and under the pipe). so it's like a hotdog in a bun or concentric circles. the pipe takes away the roof runoff, and the landscape cloth covered stone takes away the ground water. they all emptied into a drywell that i made in a low point of the yard. 115' of trench and drywell all done in 1 day with 3 guys. not a drop in the basement since.
hope this helps
Is the basement useable? If you can, keep the water out, but if you don't mind water inside, that's the cheaper way to go. How far into the ground is the b/ment? Excavating close enough to the house to lay a perimeter drain is expensive and a little difficult. But while you're there you can either apply bitumen or a proprietry menbrane. You have tried a swale, aka french drain, uphill where the digging is easier, to capture a lot before it gets near the house, but is it deep enough?. Sure, we aren't talking 'water table', but is it adequate?
All the best...
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
Do the outside trench. It never makes sense to me to bring the water in and then pump it out if there is an alternative. The storms that bring lots of rain knock out the power to the sump pump. Who wants to worry about that every time a storm hits?
Thanks for the advise. Outside is the way to go for me, now I have to come up with the money. Thanks again for your time